Everyone is still waiting for the official greenlight for the next season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and while some fans have been raving about the show, there is a chunk of the fandom that is trying to pull a Star Wars and be negative about the series—praying for its cancellation.
The good news is, it looks like Prime Video’s LOTR is here to stay—at least for the meantime.
In an interview with Variety, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke confirmed that “there’s no debate” on whether the series will continue. She says:
“Over 55 million people at this point have engaged since Season 2 launched. And if you look at the long-term trajectory, which is how this company looks at an asset like that, this is a long-term investment in that franchise […] There’s well over 150 million viewers watching and engaging with the show. So I feel really good. I think we all do.”
As far as we know, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay were said to have an original plan for the series to last for about 5 seasons. Starting with the formation of the rings, then eventually building up to the War of the Last Alliance—the war that begins the Lord of the Rings trilogy where Sauron is defeated by Isildur.
While some have pointed out that the US market may not have the kind of numbers expected, the global market has been very positive about Rings of Power, and has already contributed to millions of minutes viewed. The statement continues:
“We’ll continue to make the show as long as we see global customers loving it and watching it to the point where — it is a business. Obviously, we need a large amount of people showing up. And there are a large amount of people.”
With such a high production value that’s evident with each episode, a lot of fans have been worried about Rings of Power being able to keep the quality at a certain point. If anything, the series looks amazing, but fans are starting to tire of having to wait two or more years before the following season comes out.
How has Abbott Elementary managed to release one season per year? It’s insane when you put it next to shows like House of the Dragon that need a lot of time to gestate.
For now, the complete two seasons of LOTR: The Rings of Power are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
